Comment: Every time you think the deformation of democracy by shadow political money can't get worse, it does. Passing legislation might be like making sausage, but there is no cure for American democracy until the harms are stripped from campaign finance.Shut down the federal government rather than give the Citizens United decision by the Bush Supreme Court more traction to bulldoze the public interest.

WASHINGTON -- Congress is about to defund any efforts from a key federal agency to require American corporations to publicly disclose their political spending. The measure is tucked into spending legislation that must pass to avert a government shutdown.
If the spending bill is approved, the provision would further depress hopes from anti-corruption advocates that the Supreme Court's landmark Citizens United decision can be ameliorated through transparency. Although the provision only holds for a year, the willingness of legislators to approve the measure sends a strong signal that the American government intends to stand by the most secretive money-in-politics standards permitted under the 2010 ruling.
Citizens United granted corporations First Amendment rights to free speech that had traditionally been reserved for flesh-and-blood biological entities rather than legal abstractions. This free speech right, according the the Court, included the right to spend money on political activities.
But the Court did not require that such spending be shielded from the public. In fact, the court endorsed disclosure and allowed Congress the right to make companies disclose political spending. After prompting from leading law professors, the Securities and Exchange Commission was poised to write a regulation doing just that in 2013. But new SEC Chair Mary Jo White scuttled the plan, delaying the rule-writing for years.
White, an Obama appointee, has come under withering criticism from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and a host of corporate accountability groups for siding with major corporations over investors and public interest groups during her tenure at the agency. The White House has defended White.
"The president does continue to believe that she is the right person for the job," press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters in June, saying White had "earned a reputation as someone who was tough but fair and maintains a sophisticated understanding of a complex set of issues related to the financial markets."
Shortly after taking office in 2013, White gave a speech saying she opposed disclosure efforts intended to bring "societal pressure" against companies rather than aid investors in determining their bottom-line financial situation.
In August, more than 40 Democratic senators signed a letter demanding that White take action on the corporate political spending rule. Activists, moreover, had already successfully pressured White to approve a new rule on CEO pay disclosures, and hoped to accomplish the same for political spending next year.
But Section 707 of Title VII of the new "omnibus" spending bill would make that impossible. None of the funds allocated to the SEC under the legislation can be used to pursue the rule, taking the pressure off White until the next administration -- and giving Congress more time to permanently revoke the SEC's authority to write a political spending rule.
"Mary Jo White has spent more than two years alternatively throwing shade at political disclosure rules and actively hindering their completion," said Jeff Hauser, who runs the Revolving Door Project at the Center for Effective Government. "Mary Jo White gave Congressional Republicans an opportunity to give corporate America a free pass to buy elections and public policy discreetly."
The omnibus bill further includes a ban on the Internal Revenue Service from issuing rules requiring disclosure from 501(c)(4) nonprofits engaged in politics. Groups such as these, including Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS and the billionaire Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity, have spent hundreds of millions of dollar on election efforts without disclosing their donors since the Citizens United decision.
Another rider attached to the budget bans President Obama from issuing an executive order requiring government contractors to disclose their political spending, including donations to nonprofit groups engaged in elections, as a condition of submitting a bid. As HuffPost has previously reported, this does keep alive the prospect of an executive order mandating disclosure from contractors after they have secured their contract.
Zach Carter is a co-host of the HuffPost Politics podcast "So That Happened." Subscribe here, or listen to the latest episode below:

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Quotes hall of fame - worth another look:

Jonathon Dunlop of Australia about the Miami Airport:"This is the most disorganized shambles of an airport that exists on this earth.''April 01, 2007 Eye on Miami Comment on Post__________________________________On "Colony Collapse Disorder":Anonymous said...I say lets wait till the last tree is going to be cut down, the last bit of oil used, the last lowland coastal areas flooded before we make any rash decisions that might effect the economy.April 21, 2007 Eye on Miami Comment_________________________________On Bee “Colony Collapse Disorder” being blamed on cell phones:Anonymous said...Hmmm. What are bees doing with cell phones, anyhow?April 20, 2007 Eye on Miami Comment_________________________________On South Florida Water Supply:Ron Littlepage said...Unfortunately, we know who would win when it comes to allowing development to run amok and it's not the wildlife.April 20, 2007 Eye on Miami Comment Post_________________________________Lesley Blackner said:In Florida, the sad reality is that government exists to serve the development machine, not the citizenry. That's why it's proper to say that in Florida we have government of the developer, by the developer and for the developer.April 22, 2007 Eye on Miami Post_________________________________On City of Miami and Miami Dade County giving $1,000,000 each to Jorge Perez’s Related Group (The Group's 2005 revenues were $3.25 billion.):"It makes as much sense as me donating half my paycheck to Warren Buffett.”May 6, 2007 Miami Herald Columnist Ana Menendez_________________________________On the FCAT Test:"'Florida is a serial mis-user of test scores.''Bob Schaeffer, director for Massachusetts-based FairTest.May 25, 2007 Miami Herald_________________________________Clifford Schulman (Greenberg Traurig Lobbyist):"This is the first time in 33 years that any one has accused me of fraud." June 28, 2007 Miami HeraldI say: hmm.__________________________________Max Rameau, Homeless Activist:"I respect Ron Book for his work with the Homeless Trust, but the Liberty City community and others have given broad support to this idea. I don't know that a big-time millionaire lobbyist can tell us what is best for Liberty City and the black community.'' July 28, 2007 Miami Herald__________________________________"After years of mismanagement under a board of political appointees and neighborhood activists, Miami-Dade County administrators have proposed a new way to run the troubled empowerment zone program. The plan: Bring in new political appointees and neighborhood activists."November 6, 2007 Miami Herald: Reporter Scott Hiaasen______________________________________"Saying "Greater Everglades" and "Northern Everglades" is not saying Everglades -- other places are deserving of being protected too, but there is only one Everglades. The main thing is to keep the 'Main Thing' the main thing -- which, lately, has not been the main thing." Bob Mooney - on Listserve "Everglades Commons"________________________________________"Does anyone in their right mind believe that Florida could conduct postal balloting without a major screw-up or scandal? Heavens, no! The whole country is keenly aware that our state is a sump hole of incompetence and corruption."Carl Hiaasen - March 16, 2008 Miami Herald_______________________________________On the Charter Review: "Commissioners want us to vote on their own pet changes, ideas the review team explicitly rejected. And, they're throwing their blatantly self-serving ballot questions at us at the same time. What a slap in the face to the charter review team — and to all of us!" Michael Lewis of Miami Today - April 10, 2008______________________________________On the Miami Dade County Commission:''Unfortunately, this is a commission that would build a cyanide factory next to a playground if you hired the right 12 lobbyists,'' Miami Lakes Councilman Michael Pizzi - May 14, 2008______________________________________"The days where we’re just building sprawl forever, those days are over. I think that Republicans, Democrats, everybody recognizes that that’s not a smart way to build communities." President Barack Obama in Fort Meyers - February 10, 2009______________________________________"So."Dick Cheney's response when told that two thirds of Americans did not support the war in Iraq. - Time Magazine 2008______________________________________"It seems like a bad idea can always find a home in the Florida Legislature." - Howard Simon - Executive Director of Florida ACLU - March 24, 2010

______________________________________Complete this sentence: South Florida really needs a..."Regional plan for controlled growth (before it becomes a concrete jungle similar to Houston), and a completely new set of elected officials that make decisions based on what's good for the future of South Florida instead of what's good for their wallets. - Jack McCabe, Real Estate expert who predicted the housing boom's end. - August 29, 2011 Miami Herald